Now CrowdStrike is suing Delta over flight disruption claims
What's the story
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has filed a lawsuit against Delta Air Lines in the US District Court in Georgia.
The suit comes in response to a global outage triggered by a faulty software update in July, which led to mass flight cancelations and affected industries ranging from banking and healthcare, to media companies and hotel chains.
CrowdStrike's move seeks to make clear it wasn't responsible for the damage Delta claimed.
Legal demands
CrowdStrike seeks legal fees and declaratory judgment
In its lawsuit against Delta, CrowdStrike is seeking a declaratory judgment and legal fees.
The cybersecurity firm claims that Delta refused help from both CrowdStrike and Microsoft during the software glitch incident.
In a counter-lawsuit filed on Friday, Delta called the faulty software update from CrowdStrike "catastrophic," accusing the company of pushing untested and defective updates to its customers.
Damage claims
Delta demands over $500 million in damages from CrowdStrike
Delta claims the faulty update resulted in 7,000 flight cancelations, upset the travel plans of 1.3 million customers, and cost the carrier over $500 million.
The airline is demanding over $500 million in direct losses from CrowdStrike, along with unspecified lost profits, expenditures — including legal fees — reputational harm and future revenue loss.
This has led to an investigation by the US Transportation Department into the incident.
Counterclaim
CrowdStrike refutes Delta's allegations, blames airline's IT infrastructure
CrowdStrike claims Delta's own response and technology caused delays in returning to normal operations.
The cybersecurity firm claims it has minimal liability, a claim Delta rejected.
Responding to Delta's allegations that the faulty update caused business disruption and delays, CrowdStrike said: "Delta's claims are based on disproven misinformation, demonstrate a lack of understanding of how modern cybersecurity works, and reflect a desperate attempt to shift blame for its slow recovery away from its failure to modernise its antiquated IT infrastructure."